Apparatus for rifle practice



June 20, 1944. N6GRADY APPARATUS FQR RIFLE PRAQTICE 2 Sheets-She d 1 Filed April 1, 1942 June 20, 1944. 'MrmGRA Y' APPARATUS FOR RIFLE PRACTICE;

Filed A ril 1,1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ulilillllr Patented June 20, 1944 APPARATUS FOR RIFLE PRACTICE Miklos Ngrady, Budapest, Hungary; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application April 1, 1942, Serial No. 437,188

r In Hungary July 23, 1940 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-1012) This invention relates to apparatus for riflepractice and its primary object is to provide such apparatus, in addition to the direct target, with an indirect target, aim being taken at the direct target and the indirect target serving to ascer- 1 tain the accuracy of aiming attained in each case.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus allowing to give instruction and acquire practice in shooting at targets without the use of any ammunition, whereby not only ammunition is saved but also the rifles or guns employed with the apparatus will not be subjected to any substantial wear, and the apparatus will be particularly suitable for the instruction of the young which may handle it without any danger of an accident.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate instruction and shorten its term by enabling the instructor to continually follow all movements of the rifle or gun while the pupil is adjusting or leveling the same.

A further object of the invention is'to spare the signalizing of hits and the cumbersome methd of fault-triangles, all hits being visible on the indirect target.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an effective apparatus for rifle-practice, simple and inexpensive in construction and which will occupy little space in operation so that, also the use of ammunition being eliminated, it will be adapted for indoor use.

With theseobjects in view, the apparatus, comprises, in combination with a support for the rifle or gun movable in all directions on a fixed base and a direct target preferably carried by said base so as to be adjustable in position, a link mechanism carrying an indirect target and forming between the latter and the rifle support such a connection as to communicate all movements of said support ,to said indirect target, a

striker pin pointing at said indirect target and movable in its longitudinal direction in a guide fixed on-said base, and a mechanical connection between said striker pin and the trigger of the rifle or gun in the support causing the striker pin to hit upon the indirecttarget when the trigger is pulled, the said indirect target being so adjusted in position .in relation to the striker pin that the line of sight of the rifle or gun in the support and the striker pin will always point at conjugate points on the direct and indirect targets, respectively.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which-- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the whole apparatus, a rifle placed and fixed on the support being indicated by dash-and-dot lines and the rod 21 carrying the direct target being shown as broken.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same apparatus with the rod 21 and part of its socket 26 broken away.

Fig. 3 is a section along the line III-III, Fig. 4 is a section along the line -IVIV, and Fig. 5 is a section along the line V--V of Fig. 1, all parts situated outside the link mechanism being omitted. V

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on a larger scale showing the striker pin in its guide.

In the apparatus, as shown by way of example, the support carrying the rifle G rests on a baseplate I and consists of two forks 2 and3 arranged in alignment at a suitable distance'from one another and rigidly connected by means of a slightly cranked rod 4. Each fork'is' provided with a winged screw 5 and 6, respectively, for fixing the rifle in the forks.

Fork 2 is supported by a sort of Cardanic suspension or universal joint, Figs. 1 and 3; permit.- ting it to move within certain limits in all directions. For this purpose, the fork 2 is provided with two pivot points situated in a horizontal axis ab and by means of which it is so suspended on a frame I as to be rockable about the axis ab. The frame itselfis so'mounte'd in a bracket 8 fixed on the base-plate I as to be able to oscillate about a vertical axis rt-din the line of which two pivot points for the frame are fixed, the upper one on said brackets and the lower one on the base-plate l.

A downwardly extending projection 9 ofiork 3 causes all movements of the, support 2, 3, 4, that isto say of the. rifle G fixed therein, to be communicated through the,. intermediary of a Cardanic joint, Figs. 1 and 5, to a rod IE! arranged to form a two-armed lever., .This Cardanic joint consists of a ring 'll so mounted between two pivot points of the projection 9 as to be able of oscillation'about a, vertical axis 2'k andcarrying between two pivot points situated in a horizontal axis l-m a block 12 pivotable about this axis. The rod l0-is introduced with its reduced endl3 into abore in the block I2.

Thepivot of the two-arrn'ted lever v formed-by rod 10 is situated at A. .'Ihis-'pivot,too, is supported by a sort of Cardanic suspension, Figs. 1 and 4, which consists of an external ring [4 fixed on base plate I and provided with two pivot points situated in a vertical axis e-j and carrying between them an internal ring 15 so as to be able of oscillations about the axis e-f. Two further pivot points situated in a horizontal axis gh are secured within the internal ring IE to carry between them the pivot I6 of the rod H1.

The right-hand end of the rod carries a plate or holder H on which an exchangeable indirect or auxiliary recording target I8, which may be a square sheet of paper, for example, is fixed. It will be apparent from the foregoin that this indirect target will accurately follow all movements of the rifle barrel, designated by L in Fig. l, in an increased extent depending on the proportion existing between the length of the longer lever arm of the rod I0 and that of the shorter one. As shown in the drawings,'by way of example, this proportion is about :1 which means that the movements of the rifle barrel L at the point where it is fixed to the fork 3 will be reproduced by the indirect target I8 on a ten times larger scale.

Opposite to the indirect target l8, a striker pin is so arranged as to be movable in axial direction in a sleeve 22 fixed on the bracket 8. This pin 20 is guided in the sleeve 22 by a piston 4| at its inner end, and a;sp ring 43 inserted between this piston and a plug 42 tends to retract the pin 20 so far a stop 44 screwed on the pin allows it. In Fig. 6 the pin 20 is shown in this retracted positon. Anotherpin 35 with piston 35 and stop 33 as well as another plug 31 and another spring 33 are provided in a substantially symmetrical arrangement in relation to the analogous parts just mentioned but with the difference that the tension of spring 38 is able to overcome that of spring 43 and a knob 2| is screwed on the free end of pin 35. This knob serves as a handle to pull the pin 35 outwards so as to allow the nose 34 ofa detent 23 to snap, under the action of a spring 33, through a slot of the sleeve 22 between the pistons 4| and 36 and thus withhold the pin 35 from further inward movement when it is retracted by the tension of spring 38. The detent 23 is pivotably secured on the bracket 8 at 41 and connected, by means of a Bowden cable 24 suspended on an arm l9 of the support, with a lever 25 located adjacent to the trigger Zof the rifle G so as to be subjected to the action of the trigger. To put a limit to the penetration of the nose 34 into the sleeve 22 in an adjustable manner, at the opposite end of the detent a stop 45 is secured, in a desired position, to the bracket by means of'a set screw 46. v

Secured to the opposite end of, the base plate I is atube 26 serving as a socket for a rod 21 (shown as broken in Fig. 1) adjustable in longitudinal direction by means of a set screw 28 and carrying at its free end the'direct target 3| at which the barrel L of the rifle is to be directed and which is also adjustable in position by means of screws 29 and'30.

Now, when one, in taking sight, is adjusting the barrel L of the rifle G by means of the movable support to point at the fixed direct target 3|, the indirect target 18 will participate in all movements of the rifle in relation to the fixed striker pin 20. The apparatus is to be adjusted from the beginning in such a manner that the striker pin 20 should point at such a point or spot of the indirecttarget I 3 as exactly corresponds to thatpoint' or spot of the direct target the indirect target I8. Themark of impact made by the striker pin on the in'directtarget l8 indicates the point or spot in which the direct target 3| is pierced through by the prolonged line of sight. Thus the point of impact on the indirect target is characteristic of the accuracy of the aim taken.

The direct target is to be reduced in area in accordance with its reduced distance from the eye of the aimer. The corresponding dimensions of the indirect target can easily be determined from the proportion existing between the arms of the lever I0.

I What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for rifle-practice, comprising a fixed base, means for supporting the rifle from said base at a {point adjacent the trigger, said means comprising a universal joint permitting the rifle to move in all directions, a recording target, a rod supporting said target and extending forwardly, means located forwardly of said first-named means for pivotally supporting said rod on said base, said last-named means comprising a universal joint permitting said rod to turn in all directions, a universal joint between said rod and the forward part of the rifle, slid- ,ably connected with'said rod, a striker pin slidably supported from said base at the rear of said target and adjacent the rifle trigger when the rifle is mounted on said supporting means, means for urging said pin forward into recording contact with said target, a detent for restraining said last-named means, a member mounted on said first-named supporting means and adapted to be moved by the rifle trigger, and an operating connection between said member and detent for releasing said detent when said trigger is pulled.

2. An apparatus f or rifle practice comprising a fixed base, means for supporting a rifle from said base comprising'a universal joint permitting the movement of the rifle in any direction in aiming the same at a direct target, two mem bers consisting of an indirect recording target and a striking pin -movably supported, and adapted to make a recording contact with said indirect target and connecting means between said rifle and one of said members causin said one member to follow the aiming movements of said rifle, a cylinder'into which said pin extends a spring in said cylinder-between the inner end of said pin and one end of the cylinder for urging said pin to contact with said target, a weaker spring in said cylinder between the inner end of said pin and the other end of said cylinder for urgingsaid rpin away from said target, a detent for holding said first-named spring inoperative, a memberc'arried by the rifle support and adapted to be moved; bjythe rifle trigger, an operating connection between saidlast-named member and detent for releasing said detent when the trigger is pulled and resetting means for said target andfirst-named'spring.

MIKLos NOGRADY. 

